International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research, Volume 5, Issue 7, July-2014

ISSN 2229-5518 58

Urban Land Management and Planning

- Indian Context

Shehana Rasheed Saritha G Parambath

M plan student: Dept. of Architecture Assistant Prof: Dept. of Architecture
College of Engineering College of Engineering
Thiruvananthapuram, India Thiruvananthapuram, India
anastrp@gmail.com parambathsaritha@gmail.com

Abstract—Land has always been the prime resources for
planning and development of any area. Land is such a resource,
which is constant and cannot be created. Therefore the
importance of optimum usage of land in a developing city is
obvious. The main challenge of physical planners is the proper
and effective land use planning with the allocation of all the
physical and social amenities for existing and the growing
population of the area and its hinterlands. Land pooling
reconstitution and other associated techniques are appropriate
urban land management tools.
Keywords—land; planning; land pooling; reconstitution;
effective legislation. To effectively manage the new growth
implies that the agricultural land at the periphery of the cities
and towns or smaller settlements that are not yet “urban” is
transformed to be made suitable for urban or non-agricultural
uses. This essentially means that the irregular landholdings
and plots will have to be given regular shapes; they must be
ordered; each plot must be given access; infrastructure
services such as water supply and drainage must be provided;
land must be appropriated for providing roads, parks, social
amenities, and low-income housing, development controls
must be prescribed to result in a good quality-built form and

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I. INTRODUCTION
“Land management” is defined as an activity on the
ground, using appropriate technologies in the respective land
use systems. It is known by different names in different parts
of the world; basically all are land management tools. In India
land management is based on the policies of Economic
Liberalization (1991)) and Democratic Decentralisation (1993)
together with ever increasing shortage of urban land. Strong
land owner opposition to forcible land acquisition, combined
with extremely limited fiscal capacity has left the urban local
bodies (ULBs) with very few options to develop well-planned
and serviced urban land. Land pooling and reconstitution
(LPR) is a tool that addresses both these issues by allowing the
land owners to share the gain in the land value post provision
of infrastructure and services. In lieu, the land owners pay
betterment charges and contribute a part of their land to fund
the infrastructure and services.
levy development or betterment charges to offset the cost of
developing the physical and social infrastructure. But most
importantly, all of this must happen in a timely manner and
such that it is acceptable to the “landowners” to avoid conflict
in the growth management process.
II. LAND POOLING AND RECONSTITUTION
Simply put, in LPR, a number of small holdings are pooled
together, a part of land is taken from each plot for provision of
infrastructure and public facilities and the rest returned to the
original land owners. It is basically a land management tool
and is used all over the world under different names with
slight modifications in their working. “Fig. 1,” shows the
characteristics of land readjustment.

A. Need to effectively manage growth

Cities and towns are crucial to the economic well being of
India. For this, it is imperative that its cities and towns are
transformed and pressures of new growth are dealt with so that
they are more livable, efficient, and environmentally
sustainable. Only then will the rapid pace of economic growth
that India is undergoing be sustained and the targets of
environmental sustainability of the world achieved.

To manage the transformation of India’s cities and towns Fig. 1. An illustration of the LR process
and effectively manage new growth requires effective urban Source: Montandon and de souza, 2007
planning protocols, processes, and institutions underpinned by

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International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research, Volume 5, Issue 7, July-2014
ISSN 2229-5518 59

Extensively used internationally, LPR can trace its roots to Legal Origins
Holland and Germany in the 1890s. It quickly spread across Country Period /
Term
Related Regulations /Technique
the globe including Europe (e.g. Sweden, Finland, France and Year(s)
applied
Belgium), Asia (e.g. Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Indonesia, t
India and Nepal), the Middle East (e.g. Israel, Lebanon and
Palestine) and Australia (“Table 1”). It is used primarily for Source: Author compiled
peri-urban expansion.

TABLE I. INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCES ON LAND III. LAND MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUES AVAILABLE IN INDIA
READJUSTMENT AND OTHER ASSOCIATED TECHNIQUES
The strategies available for access to urban land could be
Legal Origins through Guided land development for large areas (called
Country Period /
Term urbanizable blocks in Haryana); Land pooling and
Related Regulations /Technique
Year(s)
applied
reconstitution (institutionalized as Town Planning Schemes in
Introduced through the Gujarat and other States); Land reconstitution / redevelopment
Agriculture Land
1899 and
(for insitu upgrading in small parcels in core areas);
Japan Consolidation Act and then kukakuseiri Acquisition for public purpose under the Land Acquisition
1955
through the Former Land
Readjustment Act
Act, 1894; Joint Sector Model of land assembly and
Former Lex Adickes, Land development (Greater Noida, CIDCO, New Mumbai, etc.);
LCA 1902
Consolidation Act LCA; Also
BauGB
Transferable Development Rights (for built up areas); Saleable
referenced Baugesetzbuch Baulanduml FAR and mixed use concept (for regeneration of inner city);
Germany 1986
BauGB and Law on egung
Adjustment of Agriculture
LAA Land Pooling and Redistribution Scheme (Town Planning
1990 Scheme, Gujarat and Maharashtra).
LAA
Plot
India Bombay Town Planning Act 1915 Reconstituti A. Land Acquisition Act, 1984
on In India, the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 gives the right for
Framewor Government authorities to acquire parcels of land for the

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k from
Australia Western Australian Town implementation of development projects. The origin of the
1928, Land
(Western Planning and Development practice of land acquisition by public entities in India goes
current Pooling
) Act
TPA of back to 1824, when the British Government of India instituted
1984 regulations to facilitate urban land public acquisition from
Municipal Expropriation Law
2497 (1934); current 2942
1934
Land private owners. In fact, the obligation for owners to give up
1983 their land had to find a legitimate justification. The initial
Turkey (2005), Building Amnesty Readjustmen
1985
Law 2981; Reconstruction
2005
t reason advanced to acquiring the land against their will was
Law 3194 (1985) the need for constructing public buildings in Bengal provinces.
Introduced through the City
South Planning Act and recently 1934
Land These regulations enabled the British government to take
Readjustmen possession of the land for the construction of roads and canals.
Korea through the Residential Land 1980
t
Development Promotion Act From 1850 on, the scope of these laws was extended to other
Indirectly in the Republic’s Land provinces in order to facilitate the operation of further
1949
Taiwan constitution & Agrarian Land Consolidatio
Consolidation Program
1958
n infrastructure projects such as railways.
Reparcelacio
Spain Land Use Law 1956
n The Land Acquisition Act was edited in 1894. It
Basic Agrarian Law No 5, harmonized and consolidated previous regulations into one
Land
Indonasi Spatial Use Management Law, 1960
a Law on Housing and 1992
Consolidatio single act, applicable within the whole British India. After
Settlement
n India’s independence in 1947, the Indian Government started
Five lines of nature
Land
using this act as a tool to purchase land at a lower price than
North remodelling, Nature remarking 1976 then that on the regular market, as it was meant to be used in the
Reallingmen
Korea policy and the Agricultural Late 90s
Law
t public interest. Several amendments have been made on this
1983 and act, but its procedures have not changed.
Local Government Act Replotting
Canada later
(chapter 323) Schemes
updates The Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation & Resettlement Bill,
Colombi Urban Reform Law; Territorial 1989 Readjust de
2011 aims at balancing the need of land for economic
a Development Law 1997 Tierras
Land Acquisition Act, Town 1976 and Land development projects with the needs of consequently
Nepal displaced populations. It is meant to replace the Land
Development Act 1988 Plotting
Experience Acquisition Act, 1894. Introduced in Lok Sabha, it has yet to
with Land be approved by the Parliament. Nevertheless, if it is
Land Readjustment Act BE-
Thailand 2005 sharing
2547 implemented, Public Private Partnership (PPP) and private
before Land
Readjustmen companies will need to obtain the agreement of 80 per cent of

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International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research, Volume 5, Issue 7, July-2014
ISSN 2229-5518
families affected by the project to acquire land; while at
present agreement from 80 per cent of the landowners only is
required. Besides, compensations to owners will increase, both
in rural and urban areas. Moreover, a Social Impact
Assessment being required for every land acquisition, this is
likely to further delay the process. It should thus become more
and more difficult for developers to acquire land, even for a
legitimate public purpose.
B. Town Planning Schemes(TPS)
In India, the Bombay Town Planning Act of 1915 allowed
the use of LPR in the form of Town Planning Schemes (TPS)
in the erstwhile Bombay Presidency. Later, it became the basis
of the TPS enabling act in Gujarat - the Gujarat Town
Planning and Urban Development Act (GTPUDA), 1976.
A Town Planning or Plot Reconstitution Scheme provides
collaborative means of undertaking and financing land
development without the need for compulsory land
acquisition, but with the involvement of land owners. At the
same time, it helps to provide serviced plots in orderly layouts
to accommodate urban expansion. The cost for provision of
infrastructure is recovered through contributions from land
owners. What distinguishes these schemes from bulk land
acquisition or selective acquisition of land under reservation is
the entitlement of the land owners to the profits and benefits of
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the scheme. The entire scheme of land development and
servicing can be self-financing while the local authority can
secure lands free of cost for public purposes and EWS
housing. The Bombay Town Planning Act, 1954, as applicable
in Gujarat and Maharashtra, empowers a Planning Authority
to pool or assemble lands for the purpose of implementing
Town Planning Schemes and reconstitute land in accordance
with the scheme. The reconstituted plots are allotted to the
land owners in proportion to their original land holdings.
TPS was widely used in Maharashtra in the first half of the
20th Century. For example, large parts of Mahim, Khar and
Borivali in Mumbai were developed through TPS. However,
its use declined when the Maharashtra Regional & Town
Planning Act, 1966 shifted the focus for the implementation of
the city master plan from TPS to detailed Development Plans
(DPs). Among the reasons for the shift was the long time
taken between TPS initiation and final government approval
(average of 15 years) and the fact that an ownership dispute
over a single land parcel could hold up the entire scheme. In
practice, DPs were rarely prepared, while the use of TPS
declined.
On the other hand, TPS found a favorable environment in
Gujarat, especially after the 1986 & 1999 amendments to the
GTPUDA, which enabled: (a) possession of land for
construction of roads after approval of the Draft TPS – 1999
Amendment (“Fig. 2”). Since land values rise with roads, this
has helped ensure land owner support. (b) Sale of plots (up to
15% of scheme area) to finance the scheme (1986
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60
Amendment) (c) tighter time limits in the process (1999
Amend.).
Further, the TPS process does not settle land ownership
disputes; it just transfers them to the newly reconstituted plot,
thereby not holding up the TPS approval process. As a result,
TPS has become the predominant urban expansion tool in all
the major cities in Gujarat. For example, Ahmedabad Urban
Development Authority (AUDA) has prepared over 109
schemes and Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) has
prepared 61 in the last 4 decades.
Fig. 2. Section of LPR Scheme depicting original and new plots
Source: TPS 50 Scheme, AUDA
Apart from Gujarat and Maharashtra, a few other states,
notably Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Punjab and Kerala have
TPS-enabling legislation, albeit with little use of the
mechanism. Instead of using TPS, Punjab only permits
conversion of large parcels of agricultural land to urban use.
For example, a 100 hectare agricultural land may be allowed
conversion if 45% is used for public facilities and
infrastructure, and the remaining 55% for residential use.
C. Land readjustment / pooling
Land re-adjustment is a process whereby a public authority
assembles numerous small parcels of raw land without paying
compensation to the owners. The authority then sub-divides
such assembled lands for urban use returning most of the
building sites to the original owners in proportion to the value
of their land contribution and permitting them the right of
alienating such sites. The authority retains a portion of the
assembled lands, applying them partly to provide civic
amenities such as roads, parks and gardens or schools, and the
remainder land for public sale to recover the cost of
development. Thus, land re-adjustment acts as tool to achieve
unified control over large areas of land and as an instrument of
financing public service installations in the process of planned
urban growth.
D. Guided Urban Development
The concept of Guided Urban Development (GUD)
emerged in response to ad hoc, uncontrolled urban
development with no regard to infrastructure services. It also
International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research, Volume 5, Issue 7, July-2014
ISSN 2229-5518
aims to secure a limited availability of urban land for
economically weaker sections. GUD had been applied in
Chennai under the World Bank-assisted Tamil Nadu Urban
Development Project by Chennai Metropolitan Development
Authority (CMDA). The objectives of the scheme are as
follows:
• Ensure provision of serviced plots for low income families at
affordable prices (approximately 75% of total plots to be
reserved for EWS / LIG); and
• Provide incentives to the land owner / private developer to
participate in the provision of low income shelter by
guaranteeing fair return on investments (profit of 20-30%).
E. Joint Development Model
Under a legislative act in the state of Haryana, certain
planned areas are designated to allow private developers to
assemble parcels of land. The act provides for the licensing of
private developers to purchase land directly from land owners
and develop such lands for residential purpose according to
the conditions, which include:
• Reservation of 20% of the developed residential plots for
EWS and LIG category and their allotment as per prices and
norms set by HUDA (Haryana Urban Development
Authority);
• Sale of another 25% plots on no profit no loss basis; and •
Remaining 55% plots to be priced and sold directly by the
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developer.
Initially, the model started with the plotted development, but
over time it has shifted to apartments. The joint development
approach has been extensively applied in Gurgaon and other
cities adjoining Delhi.
F. Transfer of Development Rights(TDRs)
In determining the ‘fair price of land’ to be acquired,
Governments generally try to rely on the past records of sales
transactions. These are rarely reported or recorded correctly
since transaction taxes are high and the role of ‘black money’
in the economy is large. Today, Local Bodies or the State
Governments do not have adequate funds to acquire the
necessary land even at the recorded low rates. A pragmatic
solution to this problem could be the use of ‘Transfer of
Development Rights’. The Urban Development Plans
Formulation and Implementation (UDPFI) Guidelines,
MOUD, Government of India (1996), define Transfer of
Development Rights (TDRs) as, ‘Development Right to
transfer the potential of a plot designated for a public purpose
in a plan, expressed in terms of total permissible built space
calculated on the basis of Floor Space Index or Floor Area
Ratio allowable for that plot, for utilization by the owner
himself or by way of transfer by him to someone else from the
present location to a specified area in the plan, as additional
built up space over and above the permissible limit in lieu of
compensation for the surrender of the concerned plot free from
all encumbrances to the Planning and Development
Authority’. Mumbai is the first city in India, which has
adopted the TDR concept in a regulated manner as an
alternative mechanism for land acquisition for providing the
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61
essential amenities in accordance with the development plan
proposal, for slum redevelopment and urban renewal through
reconstruction of dilapidated buildings.
G. Accomodation Reservation
The land owner can develop the facility for which the land is
reserved (such as a library), hand it over to the Mumbai
Municipal Corporation (BMC) free of cost and then utilize the
development right equivalent to the full permissible FSI for
his own purpose. In case of Mumbai, this measure is likely to
ucceed as land prices are several times higher than
construction cost. But where land prices are not that high or
are less than construction cost such a measure is unlikely to
succeed.
IV. CONCLUSION
India has a land planning history that dates back since 1824.
Initially the process was strategized by the British government
to make available land for public infrastructure and services.
Though the legislations have been amended several times the
procedure remains the same. Land pooling, reconstitution and
plotting are land management tools which needs to be
effectively shaped to achieve a planned development. The
study points out that the basic ideas and principles are been
used under different names supported by various legislations
in parts of India for the past 20 decades. A single process
consolidating the pros and eliminating the cons of all these
techniques supported by a strong legal set up need to be
modeled which could be applied to all Indian cities. The
success of TPS in Gujarat shows that similar schemes with
modifications can be applied to all other Cities in India.
Land is a free gift of nature. But the critical factor associated
with land is its relative scarcity. Planning and management
can play a significant role in the fulfilments of future land
needs. Planning potentially has the ability to orchestrate a
number of tools so that land supply and land demand can be
brought into balance.
Acknowledgment
The authors gratefully acknowledge Prof. Kasthuri Rangan
retired Chief Town Planner for his valuable comments
throughout the study.
References
[1] H. Nagamine, “The Land Readjustment Techniques of Japan” Planning
Perspectives Vol 3, 1986, pp 51-58
[2] Acharya and Ballabh Prasad. “The Transferability of the Land Pooling/
Readjustment Techniques” Habitat International Vol 12, 1988, pp 103-
117
[3] R.W.Archer, “Land Pooling for Resubdivision and New Subdivision in
Australia” Journal of economics and sociology Vol 47, pp207-221
[4] Shirley Ballany, “The Town planning mechanism in Gujarat, India,”
World Bank Institute, Washington, D. C.
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ISSN 2229-5518 62

[5] Nisnani Wickramaarachchi, “Land readjustment as a land management [7] Sejal S. Bagath, “Urban land management models and
technique for urban areas,” 9th International Conf. on Sri Lanka studies, techniques,”
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[6] Lena Chiaravalli, “Exploring alternatives to land acquisition,” Centre for [8] K. T. Gurumukhi, “Lnd pooling technique : a tool for plan
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